August 2026 [10-6]
Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Griffin in Summer, The Passenger, Martyrs, Exit 8, The Kid Who Would Be King, Pillion
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day [2026] - 48
Spider-Man: Brand New Day marks the third time the franchise deals with mass-surveillance, and the second [there’s probably more examples of this I’m forgetting] with a hero who outright murders civilians. It also handles both of those things worse than anything before it, because… Well… Money. From everyone being cool with Spider-Man hacking facial recognition to “recognize crime”, to MJ having nothing at all to say about Ned’s “Spidey Tracker” despite how obviously problematic that is, to our antag-turned-protag literally walking folks into oncoming traffic, Spider-Man Brand New Day seems to forget all the lessons we learned form Civil War, and Age of Ultron, while also conveniently brushing aside that John Walker in Thunderbolts* was condemned for doing significantly less than Jean does here. Coming from Destin Daniel Cretton [director of Shang-Chi], the movie looks and feels good, but it also has way too many ethical issues and way too little interest in discussing them to be celebrated.
- Griffin in Summer [2024] - 71
Directorial debut of Nicholas Colia, Griffin in Summer, is a strong career starter and pulls from other genre greats like Napoleon Dynamite and Superbad to tell a mostly interesting and meaningful tale of one boy’s summer of self discovery. At a crisp 90-minutes, Griffin in Summer breezes by with plenty of raucous jokes and cringey “I can’t watch this, but I’m going to” moments, but it does get a little too caught up in the humor of “isn’t it funny to watch 14-year-olds say ‘fuck’”. This is the hyper-rare movie that I watched over two sittings, and I’m actually glad that I did. I think it let the first and second halves kind of simmer for me, rather than trying to toss the whole thing in the brain-blender at once. I think this movie works because of strong performances, rather than strong writing, but I’m also excited to see what everyone involved does moving forward and will watch whatever it is that Colia puts out next.
- The Passenger [2023] - 61
A movie that landed on many “top X horror of 2023” lists, The Passenger is… Fine. I don’t get the hype behind this one, but I can also acknowledge that this isn’t really my type of movie. When a coworker finally snaps, Randy is forced to go on a growth-driven spree of violence around his longtime hometown… And I just don’t care. The movie makes its point really early on with a scene that should have been a oner, and then it keeps trying to make it for the next hour-and-fifteen-minutes. If you’re really into “how does Y get out of bad situation X” movies like Don’t Breathe, Hush, or See for Me, this is likely right up your alley. Similar to slasher films, this genre just doesn’t motivate me, so I was largely bored as this one rehashed the same drama and tension from beginning to end, and I feel like the movie is hurt by the existence of more intense titles like Martyrs or Coming Home in the Dark.
- Martyrs [2008] - 77
Far from the first time I’ve watched 2008’s “extreme horror”, Martyrs, I tossed this on as a direct comparison to something I felt was missing in The Passenger, accidentally ending my night with what some viewers might describe as “torture porn”. Martyrs is a story of two distinct parts, with an intro prologue, a small bridge between acts, and an epilogue to tie it all together. While I think all of its pieces are important, the beginning is such a genuinely smart horror film that it makes part 2 feel brutal and raw in a way that isn’t quite necessary for the narrative, and exists more for shock. Filmed a little differently [as one of my oners] I think the second act of this could have had more of an impact beyond “I am uncomfortable watching this”, but the epilogue does a good job of regaining the intrigue and wit lost during that time. This isn’t a movie I really recommend for people, because it really is intense, but it is one I like to revisit every few years, because my opinion is continuously changing on its journey as a whole.
- Exit 8 [2025] - 64
Based on a “spot the difference” videogame of the same name, Exit 8 is fun and inventive, but doesn’t really have enough narrative bite to fill its runtime. At only 95-minutes long, this is an interesting qualm, but the movie kind of makes its point really early in the script, and then you just have to ride along with the characters as they figure out anomaly after anomaly. It doesn’t really go anywhere, and doesn’t really mean anything, and nobody really grows or learns from the journey in a way that’s palpable or particularly interesting by the end of it. Yes, there’s moments of narrative intrigue, but the whole thing is just a little flat. Its styling is interesting enough, however, to make me want to watch director Genko Kawamura’s other film, A Hundred Flowers.
- The Kid Who Would Be King [2019] - 60
From the same writer/director as Attack the Block and Ant-Man, The Kid Who Would Be King has been on my list for a while now… Which is weird, because I didn’t particularly like either of Joe Cornish’s other films. Nor did I particularly like this one. Following a bullied boy who turns out to be the descendant of King Arthur, The Kid Who Would Be King is funny and charming and sweet… But it’s also mostly toothless. Save for a single moment of discovery along his journey to banish Morgana and her crew back to Mordor or whatever, the whole story just kind of reeks of “it’s a silly kid’s movie, don’t think about it”. There’s a handful of good messages in here, sure, but they’re told kind of weirdly, and the movie is long for something of this type [120-minutes], leaving the experience a little dull and a little depleted when it finally comes to an end. I do like these kinds of movies — Arlo the Alligator Boy, Over the Garden Wall, and The Flight of Dragons all being “children’s” programming that I really love — but this one just doesn’t quite have the gumption it wants.
- Pillion [2025] - 83
Ending the week with a kink-driven romp through domination and motorcycles, Pillion is an intensely well-crafted film that I simply don’t relate to in any way. This was a really interesting ride [heh] because I initially gave it a much lower rating, but after considering it more closely, there’s just so many elements of this story that are so intelligently written and shot, that I raised my score purely based on the merit of its art. I’m still unsure how I feel about the poignancy of its narrative — though I do think it expertly showcases many relationship elements I’ve never seen anywhere in film before… And I don’t just mean the sexy stuff — but this is a real technical masterpiece regardless of how the story does or doesn’t hit me. Cinematography, sound editing, visual language; What Harry Lighton has produced here is nothing short of impressive and I cannot wait to see what he does next.
